I don't know if yours came with it or not but police xj's came with a fast idle switch whereby the engine idle somewhat faster to keep the coolant moving quicker through the coolant system.

Just throwing it out there, it seems to be a much sought after option.

Happy Jeepin'

 

Only works in park and neutral. On 97 and up, you can also tap into the harness and add a switch in cab for the same result, doesn't have to be a police package...

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/97...-switch-82071/

 

Wow I've never heard of such a thing, makes perfect sense though.

So today was a failure. The jeep still ran hot if not hotter. It came pretty close to red lining at one point. And I had the fan on most of the day. So that didn't work
A different thing happened today though...the temp gauge quit working a few different times. Would drop all the way down to 0 while I was driving. Would stay like that for 5-20 minutes then come back on. Also seemed to be fluctuating more than usual...
So on Monday my mechanic is going to put a new temp gauge sensor (not sure what the technical name is) in and also going to put in a 180 degree thermostat (it has a 195 now)
We will see how she does on the route on Tuesday. Fingers crossed


To be continued..

 

Sounds like coolant temp sensor and fan clutch have seen better days. As for better aux fan the new model xjs have more blades than the older 5 blades. Which do you have?

 

Mitsumoto makes an efan that flows almost 3k cfm. Its an ideal upgrade for the factory efan and is available on amazon.

Might I suggest you do an efan conversion on the main fan with a high cfm 12' efan. Although the factory fan does flow a lot more than any efan will, it only does that at high rpms which is not where you are running. an efan will flow max cfm any time its on. A good quality 12" fan like a spal or a mitsumoto will flow 3000 cfm while your engine idles. Also, this is a rare instance where a 180 degree thermostat might be warranted.

 

It's not a total solution, but hood vents would likely be a helpful supplement to other measures you take to help evacuate heat from under the hood.

 

This was my next plan. I was thinking of putting washers under the front of the hood near the windshield, popping it up as much as possible to help with air flow. Seems like it'd be easier than cutting into the hood, and I'm a bit nervous to cut into hood. But def might end up doing it if the problem consists.

As for the efan upgrade, could someone find me this this Mitsumoto fan upgrade with 3k cfm...I looked on Amazon and could not find it anywhere
I don't plan on going fully electric for both fans, unless it becomes 100% necessary.
I figured if the t stat and temp gauge sensor don't do the trick I'll have the radiator flushed and maybe put in a more powerful water pump.

Thanks again for all tips and responses. Greatly appreciated

 

Sorry, I totally botched the brand name. This is the fan. It should flow more than enough especially when combined with the factory efan.

 

That is no where near 3k CFM. Heck, the 16" fan which would be an inappropriate size doesn't even flow that much. That's not even accounting for the fact that manufacturers love to stretch the truth (if they aren't just plain lying to begin with) about the performance of their products.

OP, there really isn't a reason you should need to "upgrade" anything. If your XJ isn't staying cool enough running mail in WI, then something is wrong and simply needs to be fixed, not upgraded. 220 isn't really overheating though, but it is the upper limit of a functioning XJ cooling system. I'd wager that something in you cooling system isn't 100%, and you are only just being saved at 215-220 degrees by your aux fan kicking on and doing its job. My first suspect would be your fan clutch. Honestly, if you've owned this XJ awhile and have never replaced it, it's probably bad. A good flush is never a bad idea, but somethings restrictions in old, failing radiators just can't be flushed, so that would be a secondary suspect of mine. Water pumps also don't last forever and can often have their impellers degrade gradually--another suspect. Be sure every inch of your cooling system is healthy and operating correctly before you start looking for upgrades.

If you insist on upgrades, I'd recommend following Marcus Ohms's build. It's a RHD XJ since he's Austrailian, so you can follow it to the letter. http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/

 

That is indeed good advice. I am upgrading to an efan but I also have a properly working cooling system. I would make sure everything is in proper working order before going any further. A complete cooling system overhaul of a new radiator, water pump, thermostat and fan clutch is under $150. Cheap insurance.

 

It says right in the description 1700 CFM. 2900 RPM. LOL

I agree, something in the cooling system is not right. If it were me at this point, I would just replace everything in the cooling system.

 

Yeah yeah yeah, I misread the rpm for the cfm..sue me.

 

You'll be hearing from my lawyer, LOL

 

Rough crowd.....

 

Airbrush us a few license plates and all will be forgiven.